Accused by the president of cowardice and un-American religious bigotry when it comes to Syrian refugees, Sen.
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Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, a GOP presidential candidate, introduced legislation calling for an “immediate moratorium” on all Syrian immigration. “I can not think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than a few of the rhetoric that’s been coming out of here during the course of this debate on refugees.’ What’s your response to that?”
“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing a few notion of American leadership or America winning or whatever other slogans they come up with that has no relationship to what is actually going to work to protect the American people and to protect the people in the region who are getting killed and to protect our allies”, Obama said.
“I don’t think it’s discriminatory to suggest that we should be duty bound to provide support for Christians who only due to their faith are being obliterated in the region”, he said.
According to President Obama, however, the United States does not “have religious tests to our compassion”.
We have a suggestion for Cruz: If you’ve been paying any attention at all to 4th quarter Obama, Senator, you might not “wanna pop off” so fast.
Right now, the loudest voices in American politics don’t want Syrian refugees to come to America’s shores. One, you share our values, we share your values. I’d prefer it in the United States and not overseas…
“You can’t pick up the phone and call Syria, and that’s one of the reasons why I said we won’t be able to take more refugees”, Rubio said on ABC.
Obama said the political pressure to stop accepting refugees has picked up in Europe and in the U.S. It’s important that “we do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism”, he said.
“I don’t believe the answer is sending boots on the ground to Syria”, the Republican candidate for president told reporters in Washington. “I’ll take those numbers any day”.
Interestingly enough, President Obama never called Cruz by name in neither Turkey nor the Philippines, but, as the old saying goes: A hit dog will holler. Following the Paris attacks, Republican governors of 11 states – Texas, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Louisiana, Indiana, Arkansas, Arizona, Alabama, and MA – said they will not absorb Syrian refugees over security concerns. “You can do it in foreign countries, but I would encourage you Mr. President, come back and insult me to my face”, Cruz charged.
“Ted has said from the beginning that the countries surrounding Syria are able and should absorb much of the refugee community”, she replied.
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“I was very proud after 9/11 when he was adamant and clear that this was not a war against Islam”, Obama said. The Migration Policy Institute says that of 745,000 refugees resettled in the United States since the 2001 terror attacks, only two have been arrested on terror charges – two Iraqis who were arrested in Kentucky for attempting to aid al-Qaida in Iraq in 2011. He reiterated his assertion that it is “lunacy” to allow Muslim refugees into the US, saying that there is no way to know if they are aligned with the Islamic State. While Bernie and Hillary have made a good show of their openness to refugees, Republicans have gleefully jumped on the same train that tried to keep Jews from fleeing the Nazis.
